Open AccessAct or Object
Author(s) -
John E. Butterworth
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
informal logic
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.368
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 2293-734X
pISSN - 0824-2577
DOI - 10.22329/il.v41i3.6851
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , ambiguity , object (grammar) , epistemology , relation (database) , externality , space (punctuation) , sociology , computer science , philosophy , economics , linguistics , microeconomics , artificial intelligence , biochemistry , chemistry , database
Many standard definitions of ‘argument’ that recognise an ambiguity between its active and objective senses seek to subsume these in various ways into a single, composite whole. This, it is argued, glosses over the distinction instead of exploiting its elucidatory potential. Whilst optimistic about the prospects of theory integration, the paper recommends a methodology of differentiation as a first necessary step towards any such goal. It starts by assuming that ‘argument’ refers —simultaneously and independently— to two different things, making space between them for a theory of argument based on the then necessary externality of the relation between them.